Winter driving

As long as you drive safety you'll do fine. Ease the gas, dont flood it. Keep a staggered formation and always leave a way out.

But just educational purposes, here's what happen when you rush in the snow

 

Driving through snow is easy. Keep in mind these few things:

- Every state handles snowfall differently. Northern states like Wisconsin makes sure the roads are cleaned up ASAP for safe travels. Texas is the opposite, mostly due to lack of snow removal equipment. Keep that in mind wherever you are.

- Take note of how heavy your load is. The lighter the load, the less traction you'll have, and the higher chance you'll slip & jack knife.

- Don't get in a hurry!!!! Go at your own pace. If the guy in the long nose KW flys past you going 30 mph faster than you, fine. Let him go. It's not a race. He's probably an idiot anyway.

- Drive below the governor. Say your truck is governed at 65. Go about 61-62 if weather permits. Bumping the governor in snow is a bad idea.

- Expand your following distance. It will take much longer to slow down the truck in snow, so make sure you leave plenty of room to come to a stop.

- You are the captain of your ship. If you think it is too unsafe to drive, get off the road as soon as you can.

Trust me, driving in the snow is not as bad as it may seem. Just don't let your ego exceed your talent & drive safely.

 

Ice is what is bad. Texas gets ice.

 

In the winter its imperative to keep an eye on either the weather channel or the weather app on your phone all the time... That way you can plan ahead as much as possible... If that means having to drive during the night to be a couple hours ahead of a storm versus getting caught in a storm and having to shut down for how ever long... Gotta do what ya gotta do... Certain states will just shut the roads down when it becomes to bad like Nebraska and Wyoming...

Think the biggest point was mentioned above... You are the captain of the ship... If you don't feel comfortable park it.

 

Snow driving is almost as solid as concrete. Packed snow turning into ice is what sucks.

This is what I have always avoided unless the road was shut down for the night and didnt have a choice.

I drove through the night while everyone else waited for the morning to come at the truck stop. It's worse driving in the morning with everyone than alone with a few trucks here and there through the night. Pile ups happen whenever one is on the road together.

As far as ice.. Well you don't know it's there until you're on it and your wheels start spinning or you see you reflection. The point is to learn your limit whatever you're safe with drive 5mph under that to be sure. Rushing or drivingn5moh slower doesn't save you anytime. Just feels like it.

 

Isn't that always a possibility regardless of road conditions?

 

just slow down, you cant drive as fast. different conditions require different speeds. if your driving in snowy conditions and the road salt is melting the snow and its slush covered concrete you can go faster than when it's a completely covered surface. if its snowing so hard you cant see beyond your headlights, slower still. if the roads iced over and dry is a lot different than icy and wet. really its common sense, but above all, FOLLOWING DISTANCE! the slicker the road, the more distance to stop. Also, your cb radio is your friend when it's bad. We drive MI. a lot and one of our drivers safely stopped and got off the road during that mess on I94 because he heard about it on his radio a couple miles before he got to it. Also, watch for four wheelers starting to spin, as they will lose control before the big trucks. No sudden moves, slow and gentle if you change lanes, go around curves, ect. just use your head.